Charles ,you are absolutely correct . Being technical sometimes we just ignore the minor issues in our circuits and go for the obvious ,immediate and large ones considerig if the circuit is not working definitely there might be a large issue . Instead of going throw all the process we shud first sense it with our hands and nose as they are the easiest way of sensing and then proceeding forward. However loving your work is very necessary but loving the work at the cost of your life is also not good so one should keep away his or her face from these electronic components .

Agreed, Rob. Touch, hearing and sight come in pretty handy when diagnosing technical problems. On a much lower technological level, how many of us have discovered a malfunctioning wall switch by touching the wall and feeling the heat around it? I live in an old house, and have made that discovery at least twice.

That's funny, I used to do the same thing, and when I was unsure if the part was hot I would sometimes press it to my face because that was more sensitive than my hand. It looks goofy, but I guess you have to love your work.

Back in the third generation computer days it was not uncommon to lose a TTL gate that was shorted to the rail. Since everything was on the 5V bus, it was often hard to find the culprit. I used to current limit the circuit to 100mA or so and let the part bake so that I could find which part was getting warm, and yes, sometimes pressing my lips against the part to be sure.

As well as all of the technological sensors, we also have human sensors we can rely on. David offers a good example. This reminds me of the factory technicians who can determine the health of the line by wandering around and listening to the machines. They say those technicians are retiring and getting replaced by young technicians who rely more on data than feel. We may lose something in the generational change.

Industrial workplaces are governed by OSHA rules, but this isn’t to say that rules are always followed. While injuries happen on production floors for a variety of reasons, of the top 10 OSHA rules that are most often ignored in industrial settings, two directly involve machine design: lockout/tagout procedures (LO/TO) and machine guarding.

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